Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Studies are showing that children that stay on their parent's health care until 26 are receiving better health care. Little wonder...one of the greatest groups of our society that are uninsured are young adults. Usually, the reason is that this group feels that they don't need health care insurance because they are healthy. But when the unexpected accident occurs and the patient is uninsured, the patient usually ends up being written off by the hospital as a hardship case. This is a positive of the Affordable Care Act. Sometimes a weird occurrence arises from this law. When the child of the uninsured is under 26 and still covered by their parents ends up having a baby, the baby isn't covered and needs an individual policy. I am sure that will be fixed soon.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

If you are using or want to use Lipitor whether you are on a standard health care plan or subscribe to Medicare, you might be able to save some money. Pfizer is offering a $4 co-pay card and you may be eligible. For details go to lipitorcopay.com.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Ever wonder why the insurance rates continue to climb? I recently received a bill from an Arizona hospital and attending doctor that treated a cut on my daughter's head. They cleaned it out, closed it with glue and she was out the door in less than an hour. The bill arrived and the grand total...$1,645. Unbelievable, yes but hardly unexpected. Yet, because we have insurance, the bill was cut in half because of the negotiated rate the insurers had with the providers. If you don't have insurance, you are actually charged more. Congress passed and the president signed the Affordable Care Act and insurance companies are limited by law on how much must be paid in health care and what can be retained for business operational expenses and profit. You see, insurance companies merely collect the money, pay the bills and keep what they can for their business. Their profits are way less than drug companies and hospitals. In fact, our local hospital's CEO salary was way over $1mm!

So next time you read about predatory insurance companies raising premiums, look behind the scene and see who is really winning the PR war.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Part of the new health care is a tax credit for small business who, 1) employ less than the equivalent of 25 full time employees, 2) have employees who average less than $50,000 per year and 3) pay at least 50% of the employees health care premiums. If the business meets these criteria, they could be eligible for a 35% tax credit on the premiums that were paid in the calendar year. Could amount to a lot. Don't take our word for it...contact your tax specialist for the details and us for a quote on a small business policy.